Product description

This engaging, up-to-date, chronological introduction presents human prehistory within a framework of themes, issues, and debates. Featuring a consistent chapter format and an appropriate level of detail for students with no previous exposure to archaeology, it also offers outstanding pedagogy including maps, timelines (interactive on the companion Online Learning Center), chapter summaries, lists of key terms, 16 pages of full color photos, and more!

Author information

Ken Feder received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Connecticut in 1982. He is a full professor in the Department of Anthropology at Central Connecticut State University where he has taught since 1977. He is the founder and director of the Farmington River Archaeological Project, an on-going survey of an inland, upland valley in north central Connecticut. He is the author of several books including Human Antiquity: An Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology (with Michael Park); Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology; A Village of Outcasts: Historical Archaeology and Documentary Research at the Lighthouse Site; The Past in Perspective: An Introduction to Human Prehistory; Field Methods in Archaeology (co-editor with Tom Hester and Harry Shafer); Lessons from the Past: An Introductory Reader in Archaeology (editor); and Dangerous Places: Health, Safety, and Archaeology (co-edited with David Poirier). He is a Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. He has been the recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award at Central Connecticut State University. He has appeared on a number of television documentaries about archaeology for BBC Horizon, the History Channel, and the Learning Channel. He lives in West Simsbury, Connecticut with his wife, two sons, and three bad cats.

Table of contents

Preface Chapter 1: Encountering the PastChapter 2: Probing the Past Chapter 3: African Roots Chapter 4: The Human Lineage Chapter 5: The Premodern Humans: Our Immediate Evolutionary AncestorsChapter 6: The Origins of Modern Humans: The Evolution of Us Chapter 7: Expanding Intellectual Horizons: Art and Ideas in the Upper PaleolithicChapter 8: Expanding Geographical Horizons: New WorldsChapter 9: After the Ice: Cultural Change in the Post-PleistoceneChapter 10: The Food Producing Revolution Chapter 11: The Roots of Complexity: The Origins of CivilizationChapter 12: An Explosion of Complexity: The Flowering of Civilization in the Old WorldChapter 13: An Explosion of Complexity: The Flowering of Civilization in the New WorldChapter 14: The Diversity of Complexity: Ranked Societies in the Old and New Worlds Chapter 15: Evolutionary Epilogue